ИЗ НАБЛЮДЕНИЙ НАД РИТМОМ ПРОЗЫ А. Н. ТОЛСТОГО

Abstract

The article deals with the specifics of the rhythmic organization of A.N.Tolstoy›s prose. The rhythm of prose is defined as a repetitive alternation of elements in a narrative system. Such elements include large blocks: a dynamic depiction of the actions of characters, static descriptions (landscape, portrait, author›s digression), insertion elements (text within the text). A.N.Tolstoy possessed a holistic perception of the space-time continuum of human existence. At the same time, we must take into account the dependence of the tempo of the work on the literary genre chosen by the author, on its stylistic nature. Short stories, novellas and novels by A.N.Tolstoy can be divided into three genre and style categories: 1) manor prose; 2) adventurous and fantasy prose; 3) historical prose. The specificity of these artistic models determined many features of the poetics of these works, including influencing the organization of the narrative rhythm. The rhythm of manor prose tends to slow down. Adventurous prose has a completely different rhythm of plot unfolding. A series of adventures aimed at achieving cherished goals is always characterized by a special rapidity and unpredictability of transitions. The rhythm of historical prose is determined by contrasts in the perception of time, on the one hand, by active reformers, and, on the other hand, by mossy conservatives. In all cases, rhythmic shifts affect both tiers of the story system: 1) the depicted series of events (the scope of the characters› actions); 2) the scope of the events of the story (the subject level). The article deals with the issues of the technique of embodying rhythmic shifts (the role of pauses, the introduction of the same type of syntactic constructions, the discrepancy of different rhythms, deviations from logic).